Avengers Infinity War: Steve Rogers vs Thanos

“In the new Infinity War trailer, Captain America is seen almost matching strength with Thanos. Is this for dramatic effect or could stronger heroes like the Hulk pose a serious threat to Thanos?”

Wow. Those are some of the rosiest-colored glasses I have ever seen. Are we even watching the same trailer? Matching Thanos’ strength? BWAAAAAHAHAHA!!!

Thanos is the pinkish purple, CGI-enhanced mega-villain in a movie series which has taken eighteen full-length films to reach its culmination, movies which have earned five skrillion dollars collectively. That’s skrillion, with a Skrill. (In all seriousness, its closer to 11 billion dollars) and will star thirty of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most recognizable heroes. Thanos is a villain so terrible he has (in the comics) destroyed (temporarily) half the living things in the entire Universe… In this new story, he is bringing population control to the Universe by reducing the number of intelligent beings in the Universe by half. He’s Ra’s Al Ghul with the Infinity Gauntlet. Look out Greenpeace, Thanos is looking for your job…

You expect a villain of such magnitude to be brought down by Chris Evans starring as “Hobo America?”

This was most certainly for dramatic effect but the truth of the scene speaks for itself. Captain America is being tested, and after the tiniest tightening of Thanos’ right gluteus maximus, he will likely kill Captain America. He isn’t even going to put his entire back in snapping Rogers like a twig.

How can I make this bold statement? Just look at their faces.

• As much as you might want to think Captain America is challenging Thanos, it simply isn’t true. Captain America is fighting to move Thanos’ arm so hard his eyes are closed, his face contorted in rictus of sheer agony.
• Look at Thanos’ forearm. It’s bigger than Steve’s thigh. Captain America is using two hands and Thanos is using one. There is no way anyone could say Cap is effectively contesting Thanos. Not seriously.

• Captain America is straining himself. And not in a good way… It’s the kind of strain you see in a guy who needs more fiber in his diet. The very same guy who, stylishly I might add, held down a helicopter is now straining to keep Thanos from reaching out and touching him.
• “I love that rugged look Steve Rogers. I have such trouble keeping any hair or beard growth. Can I touch it?”

• While this MCU version of Captain America is much stronger than his canon counterpart, Thanos is outside of his league. All you have to do is look at Thanos’ face. He looks positively serene for a mass murderer of hundreds of planets.
• Thanos isn’t even trying. If anything, he is looking at Roger’s head of wonderfully coiffed hair. “No Thanos, you can’t touch my hair. Do you know how long I have to sit in makeup to get this “Hobo America” look. Looks wild and disheveled but look at the roots. Stylish. Clean. Each hair falling just right, not in my face like Bucky’s. Back off, big man. Or else.”

• Note Captain America, ever the tactical combatant grabbed Thanos’ pinky and index finger, hoping to disable his hand. I thought it was quite tactical on Steve’s part. There are a couple of Judo take-downs that start like this.
• “Or else what, Rogers? You going to squirt some of that hair gel into my eyes while I turn your forearms into splinters? You do know I will be beating Iron Man to death, I will destroy the Hulkbuster forcing Banner to confront me directly. Then I will break him again.
• I will have you know, I shall claim the Infinity Gem from the Vision, leaving him a pile of quivering synthetic flesh. But before you die, tell me about the beard. I have this skin condition, Deviant Syndrome, which gives me purple skin and the debilitating Skrull chin. I simply have to know your beard growth secrets…”

• Thanos does not look strained. Mostly, Thanos looks amused or maybe concerned. Maybe he’s worried he might have to strain an eyebrow sardonically smiling at Captain America’s efforts to stop Thanos from embarrassing him.
• “Rogers, I shall defeat your rent a wizard without even touching him. He’s beneath me. I will raze Wakanda to the ground to get that last Infinity Stone. Don’t lie to me. I know it’s here. Before I kill you, I just want you to know, I love those highlights, Rogers. Your hair is positively vibrant. Your hairdresser has outdone himself. Tell me his name and I might let you live. No? Then, die.”

This was not a matching of strength. At the very best Thanos is playing with his food, the same way a cat might toy with a mouse before administering the beautiful bite and last rite.

To be fair: It is possible Thanos is far less powerful than he has been depicted in the Comics. Considering how most of the Avengers are much less powerful than their comic counterparts, it might not surprise me to discover Thanos too, has been nerfed in order to make him fit better on the silver screen.

I talked about this in: Why is The Vision much weaker in The Avengers: Age of Ultron movie than he is in the comic books?

As far as I can tell, all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe versions of the characters suffer from media transference reduction, an expression I coined when I began to notice how different superheroes tended to look when they went from the comic to the screen.

• When superheroes are transferred from comics to live action, they tend to be less powerful (and less destructive) than their comic counterparts. Part of this is based on the limitations of their visual FX budget, part of it on how viewer who aren't comic readers might react to citywide scenes of destruction.
• The superheroes also tend to appear less capable because it is difficult to shoehorn all of their skills commonly seen over decades into a two hour blockbuster movie. This makes them look one dimensional in comparison to their comic depictions.
• The only people who notice this reduction in power/capabilities are the fans who have followed them from one media to the other. They are also the most unforgiving when a superhero is scaled backed from their comic grandeur.

However, if they are going to take their cues from the original Mad Titan, he is a formidable being capable of holding his own against their entire lineup at the time. I suspect it will be somewhere between the two. (See above from Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2. [1976])

Since the Russo Brothers are bringing some members of the Black Order, but not all (I believe Supergiant didn’t make the cut, her role will be played by Nebula who will betray Thanos in the end…) into the movies as lieutenants of death and mayhem, we can expect Thanos won’t be quite as far apart from the Avengers in power as he is in the comics.

But he will assuredly be powerful enough to crush “Hobo America” like the bug he is relatively speaking, even without the use of the Infinity Gauntlet.

Oh and for you folks who believe he is tapping into the Gauntlet and thus challenging Thanos by tapping the Power Stone. Nope. The gauntlet serves the person wearing it. Not the person touching it.

Those stronger heroes everyone keeps talking about? Hopefully they will mean something in the overall scheme of things, but confronting Thanos with force means you have already lost.

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